Follow these easy steps to build your first vegetable garden to grow delicious vegetables this summer!
Are you ready to build your first garden? One of the things we enjoy most about living in the country is our vegetable garden. It’s not a fancy design but it works for us and every summer it produces the most delicious vegetables.
How to Build Your First Vegetable Garden
Prepare the Ground
This begins in late autumn. Once you’ve measured out the area, you’ll want to tarp the ground through the fall and winter months in order to get rid of any vegetation. This will save so much labor. Come Spring, you’re ready to begin construction.
But wait, what if you didn’t prepare the ground in the fall and you still want to grow vegetables this summer, what should you do?
,
Head on over to your local equipment rental center and lease a rototiller. Use the rototiller to break up the ground in the area where you want your garden. One year our garden looked like this below. Don’t worry, we were able to prepare the soil and have vegetables grow.
Gather the Tools and Materials
Tools:
- One, preferably two cordless drills (I have found that not having to switch bits between drilling pilot holes and joining wood beams speeds up the project enormously).
- A minimum 48-inch beam level
- 3 or 4 twine levels
- Roll of twine (of course)
- Mallet or hammer
- Stakes
- Staple gun
- 48 feet of 4-foot chicken wire
- Miter saw
- Sturdy table
- Measuring tape
- Carpenter’s square
- Trench shovel.
Materials:
- 192 feet of 4×4 treated lumber
- 208 feet of 2×4 treated lumber
- Two pounds of 2 ½” wood screws
- Box of 50 – 6” structural wood screws (every box I have ever opened had the correct bit included)
- Box of staples
- Small gate hardware
- Chicken Wire
Construction
Hammer the stakes just outside the four corners, run twine and tie it off onto all four stakes. The line should be taut. Hook the levels onto the lines. Adjust the height of the twine between the stakes until the bubble inside the line level is centered. Run the level up and down each line, ensuring that the bubble stays centered.
Once the lines are level, you have a guide for the elevation and this will help avoid a “nape of the earth” look to your project.
If you are using 8’ lengths of 4”x 4”s, use the miter saw and cut some of them in half. This is the most critical stage. Begin attaching the 4”x 4”s using the structural wood screws, alternating 4’ lengths with 8’ lengths, working your way around until you have completed a square at least two 4”x 4”s deep.
Make sure you’ve squared the corners. Take a moment and with the measuring tape, measure diagonally from corner to corner, and then repeat, making an “X.” If you have more than an inch and a half of variance, you may want to take it apart and try it again.
This is your foundation. How deep you build will depend on the slope of the terrain. Once you have the container built, put up the fencing using the 2’x4’s.
This was our very first garden we built in 2008.
More InformationMore InformationMore Information
I love your garden! We have a garden but it is far in the back of our property. I would love to do something like this closer to the house.
I love the garden!! #HomeMattersParty
Such a beautiful space! I may even be able to do this in our own yard, thanks for the tips! And thanks for linking up with us at Welcome Home Wednesdays! I can't wait to see what you have for us this week!
Nice work with good ideas and concepts, lots of great information which we all need, helpful information. I would like to thank you for the efforts you shown remarkable writing skill in this article.
Your garden is not only functional but also looks great in the landscape. We also have to put fencing around our garden to keep out the deer and rabbits. I predict that you will enjoy lots of delicious vegetables from your garden this summer — enjoy!
Great garden. My guess is it will continue to grow….Great idea to put in the pathway, before the beds ….
Looks wonderful.
Nancy
wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com
A spade is a gardening tool with a long, thick handle and heavy flat blade. Robert
Your garden is great! We have a garden but it is far in the back of our city 🙁 doyousew
Thanks for blog! Very interesting and funny 🙂 Please visit my blog here